Hurrah, Thea had her second interview yesterday, and you will never guess what happened. She finally got accepted!

Starting this October she will be starting her new direction in life as trainee for the Dialysis and Clinical Nephrology department at the Groene Hart Ziekenhuis.

We are all very happy for her. It was not an easy process for Thea. At first she was rejected after the first interview because they thought she could not handle combining the demanding efforts of raising four kids and of a demanding work tempo at the same time. That sure is unethical, and they cannot reject a woman because of her family life! Thea did not give up, demanded that she be given another chance, and she was invited for a follow-up interview. That was yesterday at three in the afternoon. This time she was better prepared (in part thanks to me, though I tried to refresh her with a more business-related tactics) and she was able to impress them with her unending enthusiasm.

There will be an intensive training program in Rotterdam where she will have to learn all the technical aspects of running the various machines, hooking up the tubes and that kind of thing. She will be working a full four days a week and I will be expected to take more care of the kids, bringing them to school and going later to work. But that is fine. Don't we live in the modern times? Women are also entitled to developing themselves and moving up on the career ladder, so I support her whole-heartedly.

(My father would have referred to me as a "hen-pecked" husband, letting my wife get away with all this nonsense.)

But we find ourselves in the new millennium and times are changing (for the better). Women have been repressed (by men) for too long and the husbands have been put here on the earth to help them out. So what if I might be a sad case. At least I will be getting closer to true balance.

In celebration when all went out to a local Chinese restaurant called The Rose Garden and ate and laughed and had a great time. The kids behaved themselves very well, and even Maarten finished his plate of noodles.

Isn't one of the better parts of life achieving balance in as many dimensions as possible? Yes, I firmly believe that it certainly is the way to go. Way to go!